Dating App Bans Profile Pictures with Guns

‘If I could police every other social platform in the world, I would,’ company CEO says

The dating app “Bumble” announced this week that certain users will be banned from featuring firearms in their profile pictures.

In a blog post Monday, the Austin, Texas-based company, which boasts nearly 30 million users, stated that the new policy was in response to recent mass shootings.

“As mass shootings continue to devastate communities across the country, it’s time to state unequivocally that gun violence is not in line with our values, nor do these weapons belong on Bumble,” the company said. “From today on, we will begin the process of moderating all new and previously uploaded photos for the presence of guns.* Our terms and conditions will be updated to reflect this decision.”

Bumble noted that members of law enforcement and the military would be exempt from the new guideline so long as they appear in uniform.

The company also pledged to donate $100,000 dollars to a gun-control group founded following the death of 17 people at a Florida high school last month.

“Bumble is also making a $100,000 donation to March For Our Lives, the organization founded by the brave young survivors of the Parkland tragedy,” the blog post said. “We stand with them, and join them in working towards a non-violent future.”

According to Mashable, the company will use a team of 5,000 contractors to enforce the new policy.

In statements to the New York Times, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said that photos of firearms interfere with the company’s desire to make users “feel at ease.”

“We just want to create a community where people feel at ease, where they do not feel threatened, and we just don’t see guns fitting into that equation,” Herd said.

Herd also banned photos of mirror selfies, users in underwear, bikinis or swimsuits in October of 2016 as well.

“Compared to what’s going on with Facebook and Twitter, we take a very proactive approach,” Herd told the Times. “If I could police every other social platform in the world, I would.”